A feature story about Jackie Robinson’s military service was briefly taken down from the Department of Defense’s website on Tuesday before being restored Wednesday afternoon.
While the story had been removed, the new URL, which had also included the letters “dei” in it, directed readers to a 404 page.
The story, titled “Sports Heroes Who Served: Baseball Great Jackie Robinson Was WWII Soldier,” was launched on Feb. 9, 2021, written by David Vergun. Other features on “Sports Heroes Who Served” include Bob Feller, Hoyt Wilhelm, Bob Uecker and many others.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon about the removal of the story and whether it and the “dei” inclusion in the URL were on purpose.
The Pentagon did not say whether it was done on purpose, but Pentagon press secretary John Ullyot released the following statement to Fox News Digital before the story was restored:
“Everyone at the Defense Department loves Jackie Robinson, as well as the Navajo Code Talkers, the Tuskegee airmen, the Marines at Iwo Jima and so many others – we salute them for their strong and in many cases heroic service to our country, full stop. We do not view or highlight them through the prism of immutable characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, or sex. We do so only by recognizing their patriotism and dedication to the warfighting mission like ever other American who has worn the uniform.
“DEI — Discriminatory Equity Ideology does the opposite. It is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that Divides the force, Erodes unit cohesion and Interferes with the services’ core warfighting mission.
“We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed — either deliberately or by mistake — that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”
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When asked again whether the acts were done on purpose, the Pentagon declined further comment.
In a separate statement to ESPN, Ullyot said that DEI “is dead at the Defense Department. Discriminatory Equity Ideology is a form of Woke cultural Marxism that has no place in our military.”
Last month, the Pentagon called for a “digital content refresh” that would “remove and archive DoD news articles, photos, and videos promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).”
Robinson was drafted into the military five years before breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier in 1947 and was honorably discharged in 1944 after serving as a second lieutenant during World War II. His number 42 was retired throughout baseball in 1997.
Trump announced plans to build a statue of Robinson, along with Muhammad Ali and Kobe Bryant, in the National Garden of American Heroes.
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